When I was a child, I would bring home a small cardboard “piggy bank” from church each year at the beginning of Lent. The children at my church were told to place coins in the bank and fill it up and bring it back to church at Easter. This was how they taught us to give alms during Lent. Alms-giving is one of the three traditional spiritual practices for Lent, along with prayer and fasting.
Alms are gifts for the poor and those in need. I’m not sure what the church did with the money collected from children. But we were taught to fill those little banks with coins each Lent as part of this practice.
Alms-giving itself is a practice not talked about very often, particularly in churches. Yes, churches talk about money. Yes, churches ask for money to be donated. They even express concern about using money for social programs. But most money given to a church is used to maintain the institution: paying for a building, salaries for staff, apportionments to the denomination, and whatever is left over is used for programs. The percentage of a church’s budget used for all programs is typically very small. And what about the budgeted money for the support of the poor? Maybe there’s a monthly food collection for the local food bank. Maybe.
The gospels attributed to Mark (12:41-44) and Luke (21:1-4) convey a story of a woman who gives the only coin she had and compares that to the wealthy man, a religious leader, who gave something from his extra income. Jesus is quick to explain that while the wealthy man gave away more actual money, it was the woman who demonstrated true generosity. She gave all she had for the poor, while she herself was poor.
Alms-giving is an opportunity to learn to be generous. It’s not about collecting loose coins, as I was instructed as a child. Nor is it about giving out of our wealth. Instead, it’s both a call to give to those in need and thereby help to correct social imbalance. It’s also a call to give from the depths of who we are, not just the extra we have from our abundance.
As we move toward the final weeks of Lent, our attention is drawn more to the final days of Jesus’ life. It’s in these weeks that we consider how Jesus gave everything, including his own life for the life of the world. The theological term for this is the Greek word kenosis. While kenosis is translated into English as “emptying,” when using kenosis theologically, it’s understood as Jesus’s self-emptying. Jesus empties himself of his Divine-state to become human. Even more, he empties himself of human life through his death. Jesus gave his all: both the divine and the human.
This self-emptying is characteristic of Biblical spirituality. One of the creation stories conveyed in the Hebrew book of Genesis depicts God breathing life into clay, thus creating humanity. This is the Divine giving deeply of the Divine-self, the actual breath of God, a self-emptying. Again and again, God gives of the Divine-self by being present as a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night for the Israelites in the Exodus event. In short, God gives generously of the Divine-self for the benefit of both humanity and all creation. It is this Divine self-emptying that brings life into the world as well as new life in the resurrection. It is this self-emptying that’s at the heart of alms-giving.
The practice of alms-giving is an opportunity for us to live in imitation of the Divine. It’s not about a loose change collection. It’s about giving of self in real and meaningful ways. It’s meant to lead us to be generous with others in ways that are life-giving, even when that means we need to put ourselves out beyond our comfort zone. After all, the pattern of God throughout scripture and of Jesus in the gospels is not to act within a comfort zone but is always meant to bring change, hope, healing, and life in the world. As imitators of God and followers of Jesus, we are called to live this example. It’s in that way that alms-giving is a spiritual practice not only for Lent but also for our lives. By it, we bring hope and life into the world.
Image credit Chris Yarzab on Wunderstock (license)